ORLANDO, FLA.—Anyone attending The NAFEM Show from February 7 to 9 with the goal of greening up their kitchen would have found hundreds of ways to do so thanks to the innovations brought to the trade show floor by the more than 500 exhibitors in attendance. The North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers event, held every two years, attracted approximately 20,000 foodservice professionals to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.Companies touted advancements in cooking, ventilation, water filtration, water recycling, water heating, cooking oil management, ice making, warewashing, food waste management, refrigeration, balers, and even vegetable, herb...

ORLANDO, FLA.—Education will be a key factor in forwarding the message of sustainability to restaurateurs, other business operators and lawmakers, Scott DeFife, the National Restaurant Association’s executive vice president of policy and government affairs said at the U.S. Composting Council’s annual conference in Orlando, Fla.DeFife, who spoke at the conference’s plenary panel January 29, said the NRA is invested in educating the industry on the importance of sustainability as well as making the business case that underscores its profitability environmentally and economically.“With the help and support of some key leaders in the industry, we created the Conserve Sustainability Education...

CHICAGO—A new Panama resort invites luxury adventure travelers to explore an extraordinary island wilderness. Adjacent to a national marine park in Panama’s Gulf of Chiriqui, Isla Palenque is a 400-acre jungle island where a new luxury resort is opening. The first guests arrive February 14. The Resort at Isla Palenque represents Central America’s only private island ecoresort with sustainability at its core and a menu of amenities to rival those of the best luxury hotels worldwide. From the environmentally sensitive design, which has been honored by the IUCN for biodiversity conservation, to its luxurious offerings, every aspect of the...

STOWE, VERMONT—Trapp Family Lodge has joined with Stowe Land Trust (SLT) to establish a legacy that protects the future of the working landscape in the Stowe region. A one-dollar nightly donation to SLT will help ensure that Stowe’s essential beauty is preserved for the future. Contributions from this partnership will enable SLT to continue its important work of conserving and stewarding Stowe’s farmland, trails, waterfalls and scenic vistas.“The legacy created by this partnership is a natural extension of the von Trapp family’s commitment to conservation and protection of the working landscape,” said Heather Furman, Stowe Land Trust’s executive director.Three...

PORTLAND, ORE.—GMIC (Green Meeting Industry Council), the nonprofit professional meetings association dedicated to promoting sustainable meetings, has reached an agreement with iCompli, a division of BPA Worldwide, a global third-party assurance provider, to develop a certification program for the event industry’s sustainability standards. The standards, known as the APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Event Standards, were released last year to address environmental and social sustainability in the meeting and event industry.“Certification drives adoption of industry standards,” says Tamara Kennedy, executive director of the GMIC, whose members led the development of the APEX/ASTM Standards. “We saw a real need in the industry...

NEW YORK—Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, a pioneer and leader in sustainable luxury hospitality, is embarking on an era of expansion, announcing five new-build properties across five countries. All are scheduled for completion by 2016. The new additions will include the brand’s Western Hemisphere debut, with properties under development in St. Lucia, Dominican Republic and Colombia; its first presence in Bhutan, and the opening of Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain, China at the end of 2013.The significant growth of the distinctive brand comes to fruition under new leadership, with Wolf Hengst as executive chairman and Neil Jacobs as CEO...

IRVING, TEXAS—The Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) announces the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas (ICCLC) project as the fifth convention center in the country to achieve LEED Silver certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). LEED is the nation’s preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. “We had a distinct opportunity with the design and construction of the ICCLC to create a new icon for the destination that would set a standard, for sustainability as well as for a new category...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) has joined forces with Clean the World Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization that collects and recycles used soap and bottled amenities from hotels, to offer AH&LA members an exclusive additional 5 percent discount per room.More than 1,700 hotels across North America currently participate in the program. Since 2009, Clean the World has distributed more than 12 million bars of soap to homeless shelters and in countries suffering from high death rates due to acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease, the top killers of children under the age of five.Properties that participate...

GREENWICH, CONN.—Starwood Capital Group announced the launch of two new hotel brands, the luxury brand Baccarat Hotels & Resorts, and the lifestyle eco-brand 1 Hotels & Resorts, with five hotel openings scheduled under the group’s hotel brand management company, SH Group. The initial five hotel openings will occur over the next 24 months and include: Baccarat Hotel & Residences New York, N.Y.; Baccarat Hotel Rabat, Morocco; 1 Hotel & Residences South Beach, Fla.; 1 Hotel Central Park, N.Y.; and 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge Park, N.Y.“With two revolutionary hotel brands entering the marketplace and five hotel openings in the next...

LAS VEGAS—Governor Brian Sandoval has awarded MGM Resorts International the 11th Annual Nevada Governor’s Points of Light Award for its employee volunteer initiative. The recognition comes on the heels of MGM Resorts’ announcement that in 2012, employees donated more than 113,000 volunteer hours to the community, far surpassing the corporate goal of 100,000 hours set by Jim Murren, chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts. A total of 850 charitable organizations benefited from the employees’ community service last year. The value of time donated by MGM Resorts’ employees is estimated at more than $2.1 million, according to the Independent Sector,...